In the past, in attempts to wind fiber such as an optical fiber on a bobbin for dispensing the fiber from the rear of a missile, the angle at which the fiber is wound on the bobbin has been determined and controlled by visual reference. This method obviously is not suitable for automatic altering or maintaining of the lag angle of the fiber as it is being wound on the bobbin. Therefore, there is a need for a mechanism that has the capability of causing the lag angle of a fiber that is being wound on a bobbin to be maintained at a substantially constant lag angle that is preselected.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an electromechanical lag angle detector by which one can utilize an electrical output thereof to cause the lag angle of the fiber to remain substantially constant as the fiber is wound on a bobbin.
Another object of this invention is to provide an electromechanical lag angle detector that produces an output that can be readily used by a computer.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an electromechanical device which measures the lag angle of the fiber and produces an output which is indicative of the lag angle of the fiber.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an electromechanical lag angle detector that greatly enhances the ability of a fiber winder to wind multiple layers of fiber on a bobbin.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in this art.